How McDonald's Gets Us to Buy that Burger.

Source: YouTube

The economic principle I’m exploring is “People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.”

My research question to help me study the economic principle is “How does the imagery of an advertisement get us to buy their product?”

The article published in Visme titled “10 Commonly Used Techniques in Visual Advertising” demonstrates this economic principle by arguing/showing 10 different spatial/visual techniques used in advertising, the most impactful (in my opinion) being color, association, and repetition. The article shows that just the right mix of these elements can lead us consumers to buy a product for reasons we don’t even consciously recognize.

Firstly, the article says that color plays a big role in the effectiveness of an ad. The author says that “Advertisements, posters and billboards use color to captivate the audience’s attention. Different colors evoke different feelings in the viewer.” It’s simple psychology that different colors evoke different emotions in the viewer, and companies definitely use this to their advantage. The article used the example of a McDonald's ad, whose classic colors are red and yellow, and as explained by the author, “red and yellow are used for a specific reason. While red emanates excitement (and can even increase your heart rate), yellow communicates happiness and optimism.” So while you may not be aware of it, even the colors of an ad can influence you.

Secondly, repetition can also play a role in the success of a product, or even a brand. “Repetition can build brand familiarity,” the author explains, “but it can also lead to consumer fatigue. Consumers can become so tired of an ad that they tune it out or actively avoid the product.” Repetition can be a powerful tool, but it can also turn us off from buying the product. How much a company uses repetition can make or break whether we buy a product. A good use of repetition would be the Nike logo; we can see the symbol and immediately know that it’s Nike, whereas a bad use of repetition is those companies who email you spam 6 times a day. Nevertheless, both company/product names are likely forever ingrained in your brain.

Third, association is one of the most powerful techniques in advertising because of the emotional power it holds. When you see a group of celebrities on TV, on the beach, smiling and laughing, all while drinking a certain brand of soda, you’re automatically going to think that if we drink the soda we have a good time, right? This, the author explains, is because “Whenever we see an image of people having a good time, we automatically associate their desirable state with the product they're using.” There can be another side to this as well. Controversial ads can put us off from a product, regardless of if we actually like the product or not (i.e. the Pepsi commercial from last year). Association, when done right, can unconsciously drive us to buy the product in an advertisement in search of a good time, wealth, status, or whatever the advertisement is showing.

In my next blog post I will research the question: In what situations is a TV ad more effective than an in-print ad (and vice versa)?